M51 Experiments

 

 

This is a sort of experimental image of M51, and its interacting companion NGC5195. I've actually been imaging this pair for a while, but this stack is actually made up of just 17 frames of 5 minutes each, or just under an hour and a half of data - using my Orion Xt8 optical tube. 

 This scope, which I bought in 2009, is intended only for visual use, but it's within the weight capacity of my mount, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Overall, it definitely lives up to its reputation as a light bucket, but in the pre-cropped version of this shot it didn't do so well on bright stars. There was some pronounced asymmetry, which could be due to the telescope itself, or perhaps to guiding errors induced by wind hitting the monster of a tube. 

 I've also been using a different camera, an old Canon EOS-M2 mirrorless. The data quality is FAR lower than my Pentax DSLR, including noise levels, hot pixels, and banding. Fortunately, most of the issues appear to be (mostly) correctable via calibration frames and dithering. This camera has a shorter distance between the sensor and bayonet mount than my DSLR, so it allows me to reach focus with the Xt8 telesope. It's also computer controllable via libgphoto2, so I can use it inside of kstars/Ekos.